How to Speak With Your Hands: 6 Italian Gestures to Know

We Italians have mastered the art of talking with our hands. We can, in theory, have whole conversations without exchanging any words—just a flurry of finger choreography and fluid elbows—though the real purpose of our gestures is to animatedly emphasize (a proclivity that has become famous worldwide). And while, yes, we do speak actual Italian, the hand gestures are often where the nuance lives.

One gesture in particular—the infamous mano a borsa—was recently immortalized in emoji form, though sadly under the name “pinched fingers,” which sounds more like a kitchen injury than one of the most expressive tools in the Italian lexicon. Offline, this gesture can mean anything from “What are you even saying?” to “This pasta is perfect” to “I can’t believe you wore that.”

In total, around 250 Italian hand gestures have been identified (and that’s just the codified ones). And Bottega Veneta’s latest campaign, Craft is our Language, pays tribute to this uniquely Italian fluency, linking it to another gesture-based language: the house’s signature leather weave, Intrecciato. Like a good hand gesture, it doesn’t need a logo to make itself understood. In other words, it speaks for itself—much like our hands.

The project, as seen in the accompanying images here, is inspired by the work of Bruno Munari, the Milanese designer and artist who in 1958 published Supplement to the Italian Dictionary, a tongue-in-cheek, photographed catalog of Italy’s hand gestures as an introductory guide for the “phalange-phobic.” Here, we revisit some of the greats from his glossary, plus some tips on how to give that misunderstood emoji the depth it deserves.

È Furbo / He’s Sly

Thumb slightly slides down the cheek to express someone knows what they’re doing.

Rubare / Theft

Wrist is rotated and fingers move slightly.

Ma Che Vuoi?/ What Do You Want?

The aforementioned “la mano a borsa”. It can alternatively mean, “What are you saying?” or “What is your point?” Hand shakes up and down; level of vigor should match the level of disbelief.